No-look passes part of why we can’t look away from Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes no-look pass has developed into potent Chiefs weapon

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes no-look pass to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson in Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens has developed as trust between quarterback and receivers has grown.

By

Up Next

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes no-look pass to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson in Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens has developed as trust between quarterback and receivers has grown.

By

Considering Patrick Mahomes’ freakish arm, uncanny poise and infinite ingenuity, he’s as exasperating to Chiefs opponents as he is exhilarating for Chiefs fans. In about any given game, you might see a defender pound the ground in frustration or throw both hands to their helmet in disbelief after another of Mahomes’ absurd connections.

But Mahomes’ 17-yard pass to Demarcus Robinson late in the first half, coach Andy Reid figures, was one of those that had to challenge the fundamental belief system of anyone on the best defense in the NFL.

Sign Up and Save

“I would have liked to have interviewed that (defender) right at that point,” Reid said, smiling. “That’s a tough bind. How are you going to explain that to your coach when (Mahomes is) looking over here but he threw it over here? He’s going to think you’re crazy.”

Part of this bewildering magic is making it look easy, or at least routine, and that’s just what Mahomes has been doing as he become the sensation of the league and has made legitimate Super Bowl contenders of a franchise that hasn’t been to one since 1970.

The no-look concept might be a relatively limited part of his repertoire, something he’s only pulled off a few times this year. But it makes for a fine symbol of the myriad ways a right-handed quarterback who completed a pass left-handed earlier this season can beat anyone — often by defying gravity and logic.

“I’ve worked real hard with him on that,” Reid said. “Built that right into the offense.”

Reid was joking, but it actually reflects a certain vision of his in more ways than one: He has emboldened Mahomes to do all these sorts of things because of gifts that include a remarkable sense of what’s immediately around him, where everyone else on the field is or is heading, trust between Reid and Mahomes and between Mahomes and his receivers and, well, vision itself.

To make his point, Reid suggested Mahomes’ eyesight was reminiscent to that of baseball great Ted Williams, whom Reid recalled was said to be able to read the stitches on a pitched baseball coming his way. In the same breath, he made a reference to some of the sorts of things he saw Brett Favre do for Green Bay when Reid coached him there.

The roots of all this, and some other unconventional elements of Mahomes’ game, are in baseball, the game his father, Pat, played professionally for 11 seasons with six major-league teams. The quarterback played it well enough that he would have been a top prospect if he stayed with it instead of becoming a transformative force for the Chiefs.

Mahomes didn’t get this specific on Monday, but in a 2016 interview for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine he said the baseline of his no-look passes in spring practice at Texas Tech had been from “how I could sling the ball across the diamond. I played shortstop my whole life. I never had my feet under me. I was always making throws across my body.”

A little touch from another game was a factor, too, he added then: “I always have played a lot of basketball and thrown a lot of no-look passes, and this is me doing all the stuff I’ve grown up doing.”

Back at Tech, though, Mahomes recalled that it was something he only did in practice after “messing around with it” with backup quarterback Nic Shimonek.

“It was almost like who could one-up each other,” Mahomes said Monday. “And it just kind of carried on from then, and I realized it was actually a tool I could use in games.”

Now, it’s a sliver of who he is on the field, part of the endless complications he poses for opponents.

“It’s something that safeties (and other defenders) aren’t used to,” he said, adding that he’d spoken with injured Chiefs safety Eric Berry about it. “You learn from every experience that you have on this field, and you try to give every different look you can for teams (like Baltimore) with good defenses like that.”

Asked to what degree the passes are explicitly no-look and to what degree they reflect keen peripheral vision, Mahomes didn’t quite answer.

In this instance, he said, simply, “I mean, it’s pretty much a no-look pass.” However he does it, it speaks to both his anticipation of where his receivers will go as he extends plays and his sheer sense of command over the game.

“I was looking and I saw (Robinson) about to kind of come open, and I needed to move the safety over to the right,” said Mahomes, who looked right as he threw left. “I kind of just trusted that (Robinson) was going to be there.”

And so he was, making for yet another stirring moment for the Chiefs and their fans … and yet another demoralizing statement for anyone who has to play them.

Don't have a KC Star subscription? Help support our sports coverage

If you already subscribe to The Star, thanks for your support. If not, our digital sports-only subscription is just $30 per year. It's your ticket to everything sports in Kansas City ... and beyond, and helps us produce sports coverage like this.

Vahe Gregorian has been a sports columnist for The Kansas City Star since 2013 after 25 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has covered a wide spectrum of sports, including 10 Olympics. Vahe was an English major at the University of Pennsylvania and earned his master’s degree at Mizzou.

Read Next

Kansas has become a trendy pick to be upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Northeastern. With logical reasons for a volatile team. Jayhawks coach Bill Self is on high alert, but KU still has to make it happen.